Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
self-selection mechanism guaranteeing that participants had higher-than-
average propensity of being intrinsically motivated toward grassroots innova-
tion. In the end, this is part of the selection process, making sure that only teams
form that are really dedicated and fully believe in the benefi t of their idea.
(b) First idea selection
Many ideas submitted were “early stage” ideas. In the selection process, it is
important not to be too critical of certain ideas too soon, otherwise one may
signal intolerance for failure and reduce the sense of security and relatedness of
participants with more radical or less developed ideas, ultimately failing to see
the value of such ideas. The overall goal was to retain approximately six ideas
per year of which the teams would undergo an intensive bootcamp program.
The path to boil the submitted ideas down to the six fi nalists was composed
of a mixture of “valuation” and “survival of the fi ttest.” Only the ideas that man-
age to recruit a dedicated enthusiastic team survive. In other words, to survive,
an idea owner needs to be able to assemble an intrinsically motivated team that
believes in the project idea to an extent that it is willing to invest own time after
end of business or at the weekend.
As a fi rst step, an interdivisional committee, of 17 people with diverse back-
grounds, ranging from R&D, manufacturing, marketing, legal, IP, business
development to HR and workers council representatives evaluated the submit-
ted ideas on the following questions: (1) is the idea suitable for further optimi-
zation to a full business plan?, (2) is the market attractive in terms of its potential
revenue?, (3) is the industry the idea is in attractive, in terms of its competitive
situation?, (4) is the idea interdisciplinary (across pharmaceuticals and chemi-
cals)?, (5) does the idea fi t Merck KGaA?, (6) is it a breakthrough or incremen-
tal idea?, and (7) what is the risk profi le of the idea (in terms of proof of concept
feasibility)?
This was not an easy task and 2 full day meetings with the entire committee,
plus extensive preparation, pre-evaluation, and consultation with further experts
outside the evaluation committee were required to do the job. Portfolio aspects
played a role too, to make sure that in the fi nal set a good mixture was repre-
sented concerning: Pharmaceuticals versus chemicals, representation of various
sites, quick wins versus blue sky ideas, etc. The fi nal decision was taken by
majority of vote.
(c) Innovation marketplace: promoting self-assembled team formation
To foster team formation, innovation marketplaces were organized at three
major sites: Darmstadt (HQ of Merck KGaA), Geneva (HQ of Merck Serono),
and Boston (HQ of Merck Millipore in 2010). At these events, idea owners
presented their ideas to a broader audience within the company, discussed the
idea with interested colleagues, and tried to recruit additional team members.
All project ideas had a poster on which the core of the idea was represented,
supplemented by a PowerPoint presentation or video of the idea champion
shown on a screen. We announced this market place to all employees and invited
people desiring to be “innospired” to attend the event. Top management was
present at all events to signal support.
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